Should the Washington Redskins change their name?

Yes

No

Undecided

Now that President Obama has weighed in on the issue, this is definitely fodder for PRSI ...

Quote

President Barack Obama says that if he owned the Washington Redskins, he would "think about changing" the team name, wading into the controversy over a football nickname that many people deem offensive to Native Americans.

Obama, in an interview with The Associated Press, said team names like the Redskins offend "a sizable group of people." He said that while fans get attached to the nicknames, nostalgia may not be a good enough reason to keep them in place.

This issue has actually been around for a while, and it seems as if teams both college and pro eventually let go of their traditional, more controversial name/mascot and adopt more politically correct ones.

Should the Washington Redskins change their name? I personally think they should.

I think this is really a non-issue. Unless I'm missing something I have yet to hear any of these Indians, Native Americans, whatever you want to call them complain. The way I see it, it would be an honor to have a team named after/about me. This is a drummed up story of the politicians who, again, have nothing better to do and think they know what's best for me/my family/my feelings/my tribe.

I think this is really a non-issue. Unless I'm missing something I have yet to hear any of these Indians, Native Americans, whatever you want to call them complain. The way I see it, it would be an honor to have a team named after/about me. This is a drummed up story of the politicians who, again, have nothing better to do and think they know what's best for me/my family/my feelings/my tribe.

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Okay. Here's a complaint from Native Americans. Does that change your mind?

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The Oneida Nation launched a new radio ad that began airing in the D.C. market on Sunday ahead of Monday nights game between the Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles. That word, Redskins, is not a harmless term, Halbritter says in the ad. We do not deserve to be called Redskins. We deserve to be treated as what we are: Americans.

The main issue as I see it lies less in the use of names like this by the team and it's fans, and more with the potential more derogatory use by fans of opposing teams.

Redskins is probably different though, as there's little redeeming value in a name that was used in a derogatory fashion from the get-go.

But take Florida State University (Seminoles) and the University of Utah (Utes) as examples:

As a graduate and fan of the UofU, I've seen fans of our historic rival, Brigham Young University (BYU), take our team name and intentionally change the spelling (Yewts) and then substitute it for swears and all sorts of other foul things. You'll hear them say stuff like "we would have won if our team didn't "take a yewt" all over the field". Or tell someone that they're a piece of "Yewt".

The problem? When spoken, Yewt and Ute sound exactly the same; and as a result, the name of a proud tribe is denigrated. I don't think that is acceptable.

Now the Ute tribe has graciously allowed the UofU to use the tribe name. After all, the state of Utah gets it's name from the Ute tribe who were among the dominant tribes in the area when the Mormons came to settle. But I think that through no fault of the University of Utah, a situation has arisen where even the allowed use of the name by the Ute tribe may no longer be appropriate.

It's sad, because I think this type of thing could be done in a way designed to honor and recognize a tribe, but it just opens up a door to unearned ridicule.

But as I said before, Redskins is not the name of a tribe, and is pretty derogatory to begin with. I think the team name should go.

My idea: change the name to reflect the party in the white-house. Right now it could be the Washington Asses (isn't an ass the mascot of the Democrats?)

"Redskin" is a racial descriptor for Native Americans, the origins of which are disputed. Although by some accounts not originally having negative intent, the term is now defined by dictionaries of American English as "usually offensive","disparaging", "insulting", "taboo" and is avoided in public usage with the exception of its continued use as a name for sports teams.

I think this is really a non-issue. Unless I'm missing something I have yet to hear any of these Indians, Native Americans, whatever you want to call them complain. The way I see it, it would be an honor to have a team named after/about me. This is a drummed up story of the politicians who, again, have nothing better to do and think they know what's best for me/my family/my feelings/my tribe.

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The issue is the term Redskins is a derogatory term toward native americans much like the n word is toward blacks.

If a team was named the Washington N word, I think there would be a bigger push to get the name changed.

I don't have an issue with the Cleveland Indians or the Braves, etc because it isn't derogatory toward them. Though the Redskins is.

Obviously the name is offensive to Native Americans. I can't see it being more offensive than when the early Americans obliterated, destroyed and forced the Natives out of their own lands but I guess that's all relative nowadays.

Okay. People have asked a number of times in these threads not to be labelled as "Teabaggers" even though that name was coined originally by the Teabaggers themselves.

Are they likewise self-righteous and thin-skinned whiners who don't understand it's just a name?

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Yes, but for the tea party (American Taliban), it's not just because of the name.

The bottom line is nobody is forcing anyone to watch the NFL or Redskins football. If you don't like it, don't watch. Just like if you don't like music that says the n-word all the time, don't listen to it.

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